On Sunday, a civil police officer named Rajitha of the Pink Police patrol was given a punishment transfer for harassing a middle-aged man and his 8-year-old daughter in public and wrongly accusing them of mobile phone theft. The incident happened on Friday when the father and his daughter were questioned by the cop on the road for more than 30 minutes on a 'fake phone theft'.

When the Police officer returned to the vehicle after the patrolling, she found her mobile phone missing from the car. Since one of the front window glasses was open, she looked around and spotted the father and daughter standing nearby. Though the father reiterated that they had not stolen the phone, the cop did not accept and also harassed his little daughter, who began to cry. Meanwhile, a passerby intervened and made a call to the 'stolen' phone, it was heard ringing in a bag inside the pink Police car itself. To the father-daughter duo’s dismay, the officer left the scene without even tendering an apology.

After the video of the incident was widely circulated, the Child Rights Commission chairman and the Attingal police intervened and registered a suo motu case. “My daughter is yet to recover from the trauma she had suffered. She is a little child. Both my daughter and I had to face harassment and humiliation for nearly an hour. Luckily, the phone rang up when a person called. If it was on silent mode or switched off, then the police might have taken us into custody,” said Jayachandran, the father.

The Commission has given directives to visit the child at her home and take her statements. And also, to give counseling to the child. “The child is yet to recover from the shock. So, we have decided to give her counseling. Further action will be recommended based on the police report,” said the Attingal Police.